Last week we heard that Warner Music Group‘s Atlantic Music Group (AMG) was laying off around 150 staff members.
The news followed the recent confirmation that Julie Greenwald (Chairman, Atlantic Music Group), plus colleagues Max Lousada (WMG’s CEO, Recorded Music) and Kevin Liles (CEO of 300 Elektra Entertainment) are leaving Warner Music Group later this month.
WMG CEO Robert Kyncl confirmed the latest wave of layoffs at Atlantic in an internal note on Thursday (September 19) and revealed that WMG would “be unveiling a new dynamic structure,” for AMG this week ahead of incoming CEO Elliot Grainge‘s official start date on October 1.
WMG also revealed further details about the layoffs in an SEC filing on Thursday (September 19), including the number of employees impacted and the annual cost savings it expects the additional layoffs to create.
In February, Warner announced that it was laying off around 600 staff members, or about 10% of its workforce and said at the time that it expected to create annual cost savings in the region of $200 million from the downsizing (by September 2025).
The majority of those layoffs were planned to take place within WMG’s ‘owned and operated’ media properties, some of which the company said it was planning to sell.
WMG revealed in its updated form 8-K last week that, including the new round of layoffs, it expects to generate total pre-tax cost savings of approximately $260 million (by September 2025).
These revised numbers indicate that WMG expects the latest round of layoffs to create an additional $60 million in pre-tax cost savings by September 2025.
WMG also revised the headcount reduction that was announced in February – of 600 employees or about 10% of its workforce – to approximately 750 or 13% of its workforce, which indicates that the latest round of layoffs impacts around 150 staff members.
The company also revised its pre-tax charges to now include approximately $150 million of severance payments and other termination costs (versus the $85m cited in February), meaning the latest redundancies will result in an additional $65 million in severance payments and other termination costs.
On Monday (September 23) Warner Music Group unveiled Atlantic Music Group’s (AMG) new leadership team and broader company structure under incoming AMG CEO Elliot Grainge.
“AMG will be lean, agile, fiercely creative, and deeply passionate about artists and their fans,” said WMG CEO Robert Kyncl on Monday.
He added: “We’re opening an exciting new chapter in the story of an iconic label. Elliot’s thoughtfully chosen a team that combines a wealth of experience, a diversity of expertise, and a commitment to excellence.”
As reported last week, MBW confirmed via sources that Atlantic has also dropped around a dozen artists from its roster this month, in what’s perhaps the clearest signal yet that the label under incoming CEO Elliot Grainge won’t be the same as before.
A source at Atlantic told MBW on Thursday: “It’s clear what’s going on here, both with these lay-offs and the roster being cut back.
“When Elliot takes over as CEO of this label group on October 1, it’s going to be a blank page – a new day for how Atlantic works… and what Atlantic is.”Music Business Worldwide